(Untitled)

[moocow1985]

Sometimes I wish I hadn't learned the correct definition of "momentarily." Then it wouldn't make me as angry when I'm on the T stuck in a tunnel and the driver announces "We'll be moving momentarily."

Comments

[quantumkitty]

The difference isn't "correct" vs. "incorrect"; it's a British English vs. American English difference.

What the driver says is probably true under both definitions, though. :)

[moocow1985]

I was always under the impression that the common American usage was a result of Americans not knowing what the word means.

I've definitely been on trains where the definition that the driver is using is just a blatant lie.

[quantumkitty]

I was always under the impression that the common American usage was a result of Americans not knowing what the word means.

(Please be warned: I am a descriptivist. There are few things that annoy me more than prescriptivism. I'm not annoyed at you, though; I'm annoyed at the school system, mostly, for drilling this nonsense into everyone's brain.)

If 99% of people in this country think that word X means Y, are they all wrong?

If we were talking about something like common misconceptions about science, sure, they could all be wrong. But if we're talking about language, who determines that they are wrong? What possible outside standard can there be?

Is it that the British are right about all issues of language usage? Obviously not; you don't (I assume) talk about taking the lift and putting things in the boot of your car.

Is it that etymology should determine the meaning of a word? Semantic shift happens all the time. The word "girl" originally meant "child"; the word "silly" originally meant "blessed"; the word "awful"